"All that weight is gonna crush your chest" : Examining the relationship between mentoring, academic success, and self-efficacy in Latino male community college students

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The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between mentoring, academic success, and self-efficacy for Latino male students at a community college. Additionally, the study explored the significance of mentor matching with respect to race/ethnicity upon academic success and self-efficacy. The study used a quantitative approach to assess the predictive power of mentoring on the academic success of Latino male students, defined by GPA, as well as academic self-efficacy beliefs. The sample consisted of 123 Latino male students from a community college in Illinois. The College Student Mentoring Scale (CSMS) and the SELF-A scales were adapted into a survey instrument to assess mentoring supports and self-efficacy beliefs. The study supplemented the quantitative data with qualitative data collected via interviews with 7 students. Findings indicated that formal mentoring positively predicted GPA, while overall mentoring was positively predictive of academic self-efficacy; the significance of these models varied. Additionally, findings showed mentor/mentee matching with respect to race/ethnicity to negatively predict GPA and academic self-efficacy. Student perspectives further supported the notion of mentoring as being predictive of academic success and self-efficacy and showed congruence to the quantitative data with respect to importance students placed on various functions of mentoring. This study highlights the importance of mentoring programs, necessitates the hiring of more diverse faculty and staff, and proposes improvements in mentoring programs for Latino male students at community colleges.